Cain’s chief of staff, Mark Block, just went on Fox News demanding that Rick Perry apologize to Herman Cain, to the Cain family “and to America” for leaking the harassment story to Politico.

“Rick Perry and his campaign owe Herman Cain and his family an apology,” Block said. “Quite frankly, this is one of the actions in America that is the reason people don’t get into politics.”

His evidence that Perry was behind the story? Curtis Anderson, who went to work for the Perry campaign two weeks ago, also worked on Cain’s unsuccessful 2004 Senate campaign. Block said that Anderson is the person on that campaign who he confided in about these accusations from his days at the National Restaurant Association.

Ergo, Block says, it must have been Anderson who leaked the story to Politico, which said it first learned of the accusations about two weeks ago.

Perry communications director Ray Sullivan offered a swift response.

“No one with this campaign was involved with this story. Period,” Sullivan told ABC News, adding, “When people get their backs against the wall, they make some wild accusations.”

Anderson himself also put out a written statement:

“I’ve known Herman Cain for about 7 years. I was one of several consultants on his Senate race in 2004 and was proud to help him. I’d never heard any of these allegations until I read them in Politico, nor does anything I read in the press change my opinion that Herman is an upstanding man and a gentleman. I have great respect for Herman and his character and I would never speak ill of him, on the record or off the record. That’s true today and it’s not going to change.”